Mayor Cranley welcomes General Electric to The Banks district

Cincinnati, Hamilton County OK deal for new operations center

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley is thankful for today's approval of an incentive deal to let General Electric build a new U.S. Global Operations Center along the city’s riverfront.

Cincinnati City Council and Hamilton County commissioners voted unanimously today to improve an incentives package for GE. The two groups acted in a rare joint session held at Great American Ball Park, just a few hundred feet away from where the new center will be built.

"This is an exciting day for Cincinnati," said Mayor Cranley. "GE will bring high-paying, high quality jobs to the city. Just as important, GE's presence in The Banks district will help us jumpstart the development of the rest of the central riverfront area."

Under the deal, GE will build a 340,000 square foot, 10-story building between the Reds and Bengals stadiums. The facility will house information technology, finance and other shared services operated by the firm.

Construction is expected to begin this fall and be completed in summer 2016.

When finished, about 100 GE employees that currently work elsewhere in Hamilton County will be transferred to the site. Additionally, another 1,700 employees will based there; they are a mix of new hires and positions moved from elsewhere in the United States.

According to a study by the University of Cincinnati’s Economics Center, the new GE facility will have an economic impact of more than $1 billion by 2018.

The impact is generated by the 1,800 jobs at GE, another 1,910 jobs in Cincinnati that will be created due to GE’s presence, and another 527 jobs throughout Hamilton County.

The study indicates the City of Cincinnati will have a positive impact of $1.9 million annually in earnings tax revenues. Also, the deal is expected to cause an $8.8 million increase in county sales tax revenues over 15 years.

Under the incentives package:

GE will get an 85 percent, 15-year job creation tax credit, which is modeled after the tax credit offered by the State of Ohio;

GE will sign a 15-year lease on the building, and have five five-year renewal options;

1,500 discounted parking spaces will be provided for GE employees; they will receive a 30 percent discount from normal rates; and